Blogger, biker and, oh yeah, Talking Head David Byrne has designed nine new bike racks for New York City, and each one reflects the neighborhood in which it was installed. Sadly, the cycle parking is temporary and all nine will come down in about 11 months, leaving New York with just 5,000 other bike racks.

Byrne's designs include a dollar sign ("Wall Street"), a reclining woman like you'd see on a mud flap ("Olde Times Square") and a silhouette of a man ("Chelsea").

None of the racks are directly along the path of New York's Summer Streets program, which wraps this Saturday, but two are nearby. After the installation runs its course, Byrne hopes to sell his racks off as works of art.

Related Stories:
· New Bike Racks, Courtesy of David Byrne [NYT]
· "Summer Streets" Turning NYC into a Summer Destination [Jaunted]
· Biking coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: robzand]]]> pbb 2008-08-20T13:05:13-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/8/18/94819/9565

If you're strolling through downtown Copenhagen and need to get your caffeine fix, keep an eye out for the Espressomanden. Ole, the espresso man, is the proprietor of a very cool mobile coffee shop mounted on a cargo bicycle.

He can be found daily, parked on the streets of Copenhagen, and is available to serve coffee at weddings, receptions and company parties. You can also wave him down, taxi style, and he'll stop and pull you a tasty double shot.

The Espressomanden is completely self sufficient. The cargo bike can carry loads up to 150 kg and the coffee machines are powered by natural gas on board.

As it happens, Copenhagen is one of the world's most bike friendly cities. More than 50 percent of the population ride bikes as their primary form of transportation. Cargo bike based businesses are also taking off in a big way. If you don't like coffee, you'll also find fruit bikes, newspaper bikes and a whole bunch of rickshaws.

Related Stories:
· Espressomanden [Official Site]
· Espressomanden Ole [Copenhagenize]
· Copenhagen Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Copenhagenize]]]> Dan Gould 2008-08-18T11:00:29-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/8/15/125411/660

Back in April, we filled you in on Daryl and Davy Vogel, 10-year-old twin brothers planning to ride from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Ushuaia, Argentina. (They were nice enough to invite their parents along.) And though they've "only" made it to British Columbia so far, they've already managed to set a world record: They're the youngest duo to ever bike the whole 1,422-mile historic Alaska Highway.

Daryl took some time to write a blog post about the accomplishment:

WooHoo! We made it to "Mile 0." While we were riding there, Davy rode right in front of a car. Luckily he made it back to the shoulder in time. We got to stay at the Best Western. They have a waterslide!

After the kids finally got out of the pool, the family kept heading south. Only 27,700 miles left to go!

Related Stories:
· A Wayward Journey [Official Site]
· Adventure Travel: Daryl and Davy Bike the Pan-American [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-08-15T13:00:10-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/8/11/142352/824

John McCain and Barack Obama may be sparring over the best ways for America to burn even more fossil fuels, but come convention time--August 25-28 for Dems and September 1-4 for the GOP--bike sharing will be the way to go thanks to the Freewheelin program.

Sponsored by the healthcare company Humana and the non-profit group Bikes Belong, Freewheelin is a free cycle sharing scheme that will both provide transportation during the events and introduce policy makers and journalists to the idea of public bikes. Each city will have about eight locations for 1,000 bikes, and they'll be available from roughly 7 am to 7 pm. (Just a couple weeks out, the exact details are still a little sketchy.)

You'll need to register for the program before you get to town; you can do that here.

Related Stories:
· Freewheelin [Official Site, via]
· Cycling Travel: Obama Scorns Your Spandex [Jaunted]
· Bike Sharing coverage [Jaunted]
· 2008 Candidates Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo of Velibs in Paris: malias]]]> pbb 2008-08-11T15:00:08-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/8/7/125050/9902

There are two types of mancations: there's the lazy slob mancation, usually involving some combination of beer, meat and sports. Then there's the active mancation, which usually involves attempting something you can brag about for the rest of your life--if you live!

Falling in the latter category, the Himalayan Race and Trek is for those who've always wanted to "do" Everest but aren't quite up for the life-threatening climb to the top.

The Himalayan is made up of three distinct bike-and-road races. The Himalayan Stage Race is an 8-day, 100-mile trek through Nepal's forests, mountains and rivers; the Mt. Everest Challenge Marathon winds through isolated forests and small villages around Everest; and the Mt. Everest Bike Rally is an 8-day mountain climb.

All three event take off on November 1, and each one starts and ends at Bagdora Airport in Darjeeling, India.

Related Stories:
· Himalayan Run and Trek [Official Site]
· Himalayas Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Mancations Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Mckaysavage]]]> BS 2008-08-08T11:30:07-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/8/1/154239/7324

Still need something to do this weekend? Get to St. Louis pronto--and don't worry about packing anything, since the World Naked Bicycle Ride starts at 9 pm Saturday. The 10-mile ride starts in Tower Grove Park and proceeds to Atomic Cowboy on Manchester, where there will no doubt be lots of slippery nipples.

Race organizer Mariah Pittman says the event doesn't have a thing to do with sex:

There are more ways to transport yourself than a car. This is about getting people to think oil dependency.

That said, the cops will still roll through to make sure riders aren't completely naked. After all, it's the Midwest--not Miami.

Related Stories:
· Ride Organizers Advise Cyclists to Cover up [STL P-D]
· Cyclists to Leave Clothes Behind [STL P-D]
· Nude Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo of a ride in London: biig_jee]]]> pbb 2008-08-01T15:45:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/7/18/121932/992

Yesterday we happily posted about Velib Bikes and the transformative effect they've had on Paris. But it's hardly the only bike-sharing program in the world; lots of other European cities offer similar schemes.

Instead of covering them all ourselves, we rely on The Bike-Sharing Blog, an aggregator of public cycling news from a consulting firm that specializes in the subject. Perhaps the coolest thing they've put together? A bike-sharing world map that tracks which cities have programs and gives links to those individual websites. Find it embedded after the jump.]]> pbb 2008-07-18T12:35:18-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/